Gary Fike with the Red Angus Association

(Sam Capoun) Welcome to AGam in Kansas. I’m your guest host Sam Capoun and today we’re at BIF convention in Manhattan, Kansas. I’m here with Gary Fike. Gary, tell us a little bit about your job duties. (Gary Fike) I am the Director of Commercial Marketing for the Red Angus Association of America. I work out of my home, and I work with several of our employees on helping those who use Red Angus Genetics market their cattle to the most optimum marketing method that they can get, the best price they can get. (Sam) A big buzzword in the industry today is source identification. What is your guys’ take on that and how does that work? (Gary) The Red Angus Association of America actually has the oldest age source and genetically verified tagging program in the industry. Since 1993 we have enrolled over three million head of calves into the system. The program verifies at least 50% Red Angus genetics, the ranch of origin, and the age. We think it’s a great way for people to be able to know where their beef came from. Down the road we have some grid programs available, so the traceability aspect of that program is in place. (Sam) Perfect. How many people are you typically seeing doing this? (Gary) Well, we are right now averaging about a 150,000 calves enrolled, and that varies of course by the size of the producer. We may have as few as 10 calves, to as many as several hundred calves. But we know from the data that has been shared with us by one of the largest video livestock auction companies in America, that over the last five years, in a study done by Kansas State University, calves that were sired by Red Angus bulls brought the highest price per pound of any other breed type. (Sam) Do you think because of this data that more people will start using this in the future? (Gary) That is the case, and we already know that since last year, because of that data, and the reliability and the integrity of the program, we’ve increased tag sales over 20%. It’s super. It’s been a great program. (Sam) In terms of costs, tells us about that. (Gary) The cost is very cheap. There is no upfront enrollment fee. The tags are 99 cents a piece. All you have to do is have bulls registered, transferred to your name. You call the Denton office, there’s a young lady there by the name of Chessie and she will enroll your cattle into the program. (Sam) How can you get a hold of her? (Gary) You can call the Red Angus Association of America office in Denton, Texas, and it’s on the website. (Sam) Perfect. Well thanks for joining us today Gary, and- (Gary) Thank you. (Sam) — we’ll talk to you soon. (Gary) All right, thanks.